Sunday, October 30, 2011

Must Dust

Let me guess.  Your favorite chore is dusting the house.  Darn!  How could I be so wrong?

Here's a confession.  Write this down:  I don't like dusting either.  I do, however, know how important "clean" is to our feeling of abundance and prosperity.  I choose to participate in it for that reason at least.

I had occasion to do some serious dusting not long ago.  Following my own mantra of "get to," I was looking for ways to change my thinking about the task.  I was cleaning knickknacks, a collection of odds and ends and small, but meaningful items that found their way into this family of objects.

The first items were little peasant musicians playing an assortment of folk instruments.  I credit them with changing my focus.  Maybe it was the silent tune they were playing.  As I picked up the second or third player, I observed what I was holding and thought of who it was that had gifted it.  At this moment my touch and the object sparked a significance.  Next there was a little box, a small picture, a mustard can, some stones, family pictures, a miniature mail box, a tiny book, a bell:  each item had big story, a past and a memory.

I was no longer dusting to clean a space, but I was honoring and sharing in the history of each object.    Appreciate means to grow in value, and as I dusted, each item became the valuable key to a sacred memory.  Next time dusting is part of Things I get to do today,  I'm going to milk the memories.

1 comment:

  1. oh do! i thought i posted a comment and it doesn't appear!!!! well, i'll try again.

    remembering the history of all my lovely items is often a way of remembering where and when i got it or who gave it to me, and so the memory grows, is replaced, and the dust, gone!

    ReplyDelete